Student group helps with owls project
Nancy Horst
Friday, February 29, 2008
The Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site (OWLS) at Riverside Elementary will see new development this spring because of a grant from the National Education Association Student Program at Emporia State University .
The NEA-SP chapter at ESU approved an $855 grant application from Todd Roberts, who is a teacher intern at Riverside under fourth-grade teacher Troy Chapman, OWLS project director.
The grant funds are part of the Community Learning through America 's Schools (CLASS) program allows NEA student members to volunteer in the community and gain practical professional experience.
Roberts is an active member of the NEA-SP chapter at ESU and currently serves as president. He said the grant will allow the school to purchase a camera, animal-tracking supplies, an observation blind, birdhouse, trees and other plants.
“We will be putting in different animal tracks for the students to help identify animals as well as a camera to help capture the animals that come into the area,” Roberts said. “In the butterfly garden we will be enhancing the area by planting a variety of different colorful flowers in the garden.”
Riverside Elementary designated nearly three acres of land for the Outdoor Wildlife Learning Site in 2004. It is available as an outdoor lab for student learning. Riverside fourth graders and community volunteers, under Chapman’s direction, maintain the site. The NEA Student Program (NEA-SP) is a grassroots organization that serves 60,000 members nationwide. The organization provides opportunities for professional development and leadership training and advocates for student members and their concerns.